Ghana and Dubai in talks to establish cocoa trading platform

Walid Hareb, Chief Executive Officer of the United Arab Emirates Trade Centre, reached out to Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, Ghana’s Minister of Food and Agriculture saying that such a platform would help Ghana access the European and the Arab markets "because the whole world is in Dubai​".

The development comes as a number of companies in the UAE are using cocoa powder to produce domestic chocolate.

Farah Alzarooni Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology of the UAE, said: "So, if we focus on cocoa by giving it a push here, it will help us position Ghana’s cocoa to feed our manufacturing food hub. It would also boost the trade in the product. It will also help grow the trade relations between Ghana and the UAE​."

By turning to an internationally certified agro-processing facility in Dubai, Ghana could add value to its cocoa and coffee and exports - up to 10 times more than what it currently earns ($2.5bn), according to analysts.

At present Ghana's chocolate products do not have the USA FDA certification, making cocoa products from the country difficult to enter the US and European markets, except its cocoa beans, which command very low prices, compared to finished products.